Ukrainian Government to reduce 24,000 of officials: Yatseniuk

Kyiv (QHA) -

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has decided to reduce the number of officials of the state executive authorities by 10%, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk has said.

"The government has decided to reduce by 10% the total number of employees of executive government agencies. We are downsizing about 24,000 out of 249,000 officials," he said at the Verkhovna Rada on Thursday, according to Interfax-Ukraine.

Yatseniuk noted that the measures proposed were the first stage that will help cut spending on the authorities and contribute to conducting constitutional reform in Ukraine.

"As prime minister, I think that we have to include [in the constitutional reform] the elimination of regional state administrations, the creation of executive committees, depriving the central authorities of functions that are alien to the central authorities, and the transfer of these functions to the regions. We will reduce the number of central government agencies to 20% [of their present number] - it is necessary for constitutional reform," Yatseniuk said.